Comments on: My Blackberry Experience http://gabejamison.com/life-in-general-2/my-blackberry-experience Wed, 25 May 2011 01:21:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jeff Baier http://gabejamison.com/life-in-general-2/my-blackberry-experience/comment-page-1#comment-131 Jeff Baier Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:09:00 +0000 http://gabejamison.com/?p=19#comment-131 Not much will change with Verizon's purchase. Your current phone plan should be grandfathered in, but Verizon has comparable plans anyway, so prices won't look that different. The big change I foresee for us as BB owners is that we will actually have MMS working! I don't know if you've noticed, but our BB Pearls don't have MMS. It's a problem with Alltel's (and Sprint's) text messaging systems. Verizon has their shit together apparently. Not that I really care about MMS anyway, I use email if I really feel the need to send a picture. Not much will change with Verizon’s purchase. Your current phone plan should be grandfathered in, but Verizon has comparable plans anyway, so prices won’t look that different.

The big change I foresee for us as BB owners is that we will actually have MMS working! I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but our BB Pearls don’t have MMS. It’s a problem with Alltel’s (and Sprint’s) text messaging systems. Verizon has their shit together apparently.

Not that I really care about MMS anyway, I use email if I really feel the need to send a picture.

]]> By: Gabe http://gabejamison.com/life-in-general-2/my-blackberry-experience/comment-page-1#comment-130 Gabe Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:11:28 +0000 http://gabejamison.com/?p=19#comment-130 That reminds me. I wonder what will change with the upcoming switch to Verizon. At any rate, I've just installed LiveSearch and I have to agree, this is a very cool service. Only one thing that I would change; allow narrowing of search area. If I search Hays, KS I don't want results from 500 miles away, but maybe I would someday or on a certain search term. We need an option to set a distance from the selected location. The BB Maps program was very helpful in a pinch, but you are right, LiveSearch blows it out of the water. As far as TwitterBerry and Flickr, the biggest advantage for me is that there is an icon on the desktop taking you directly to upload a photo or update your status, respectively. Twitter mobile is prettier than TwitterBerry, however I like being able to see multiple friend updates at once and the fact that I can use the menu to access all areas that I need. That reminds me. I wonder what will change with the upcoming switch to Verizon. At any rate, I’ve just installed LiveSearch and I have to agree, this is a very cool service. Only one thing that I would change; allow narrowing of search area. If I search Hays, KS I don’t want results from 500 miles away, but maybe I would someday or on a certain search term. We need an option to set a distance from the selected location. The BB Maps program was very helpful in a pinch, but you are right, LiveSearch blows it out of the water.

As far as TwitterBerry and Flickr, the biggest advantage for me is that there is an icon on the desktop taking you directly to upload a photo or update your status, respectively. Twitter mobile is prettier than TwitterBerry, however I like being able to see multiple friend updates at once and the fact that I can use the menu to access all areas that I need.

]]> By: Jeff Baier http://gabejamison.com/life-in-general-2/my-blackberry-experience/comment-page-1#comment-129 Jeff Baier Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:59:41 +0000 http://gabejamison.com/?p=19#comment-129 One thing I forgot to mention was about BB GPS and maps. I purchased a Pharos PT120 Bluetooth GPS receiver. Its small enough I can just slip into my pocket if I'm on foot, or set on my dash in my car. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16858179007 It connects to my BB easily using Bluetooth, and then I have full GPS location awareness. My favorite app to use for GPS (And I definitely recommend this app even if you're not using it for GPS) is Live Search Mobile for BB. It does turn by turn directions, Points of Interest, Traffic, Movies, Weather, etc all based on GPS. But even if you don't have GPS you can still use it, you just have to manually input the address. It is a far better solution that using the included BB Maps program, and I dare say, even better than the Google Maps for BB. http://www.livesearchmobile.com/blackberry.htm It has been a real life saver, since I've spent my summer in Chicago and I don't know where anything is. One thing I forgot to mention was about BB GPS and maps.

I purchased a Pharos PT120 Bluetooth GPS receiver. Its small enough I can just slip into my pocket if I’m on foot, or set on my dash in my car.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16858179007

It connects to my BB easily using Bluetooth, and then I have full GPS location awareness. My favorite app to use for GPS (And I definitely recommend this app even if you’re not using it for GPS) is Live Search Mobile for BB. It does turn by turn directions, Points of Interest, Traffic, Movies, Weather, etc all based on GPS. But even if you don’t have GPS you can still use it, you just have to manually input the address. It is a far better solution that using the included BB Maps program, and I dare say, even better than the Google Maps for BB.

http://www.livesearchmobile.com/blackberry.htm

It has been a real life saver, since I’ve spent my summer in Chicago and I don’t know where anything is.

]]> By: Jeff Baier http://gabejamison.com/life-in-general-2/my-blackberry-experience/comment-page-1#comment-128 Jeff Baier Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:52:36 +0000 http://gabejamison.com/?p=19#comment-128 I've had my BlackBerry Pearl since late December when Alltel first got them, and I absolutely love it. I agree with most everything you said. I'm curious about TwitterBerry though. I ran across it a while back when I was looking for a Twitter client for my BB. I was not impressed by it. For Twitter, I just use their mobile site in my browser, which works great and looks good. What advantages does the client have? Also, it looks ugly to me. As far as Flickr goes, I take a fair amount of photos with my the camera on my BB and upload them to Flickr. But I don't use any app, I just use the 'email-to-flickr' option, and then use their mobile site to browse my own photos, or those from my contacts. I’ve had my BlackBerry Pearl since late December when Alltel first got them, and I absolutely love it. I agree with most everything you said.

I’m curious about TwitterBerry though. I ran across it a while back when I was looking for a Twitter client for my BB. I was not impressed by it. For Twitter, I just use their mobile site in my browser, which works great and looks good. What advantages does the client have? Also, it looks ugly to me.

As far as Flickr goes, I take a fair amount of photos with my the camera on my BB and upload them to Flickr. But I don’t use any app, I just use the ‘email-to-flickr’ option, and then use their mobile site to browse my own photos, or those from my contacts.

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